Source: Taiwan Straits Network
Poster of the movie "The Island Keeper" (courtesy of the crew)
Liu Ye (Courtesy of the crew)
The film "The Island Keeper" lasted 4 months, mainly filmed on Pingtan Island, with a scene of up to 90%. As The actor of Wang Jicai, Liu Ye, in order to make his skin color texture close to the prototype of the character, he was exposed to the sea every day, and his skin burned red and swollen several times until he lost several layers of skin. Recently, Liu Ye accepted an exclusive interview with reporters, he said that he was deeply impressed by Pingtan Island, and after more than 4 months of filming life on the island, he has fallen in love with this island.
Reporter: This film is very hard to shoot, right? Can you tell us about the filming of this film?
Liu Ye: At the end of 2019, director Chen Li took our actors and creators to Kaishan Island to collect wind, and the biggest experience at that time was completely different from what was originally imagined, because there was a more romantic idea of the island before, I felt that the island, the sea breeze, the seagulls, and the beach, but after arriving at Kaishan Island, I found that it was completely different, it was all that kind of cold bare stone.
The weather that day was also particularly bad, and there was a particularly big feeling, who can live in such an environment, no water, no electricity, no signal, live for more than 30 years, and feel that Wang Jicai is particularly difficult.
Later, I chatted with Wang Jicai's wife Wang Shihua for a long time, and she talked about her and Wang Jicai's parents before she was born, but if you think about it, it is to repeat some simple things every day, but if you repeat it for decades, you feel particularly powerful. At that time, it was Wang Jicai's son Zhiguo who told me that Teacher Liu you are very similar to many of my father's personality places, I believe you can play well, this also gave me a lot of pressure at that time. The movie is actually very hard to shoot, we caught up with the typhoon in Fujian twice, many of them are live-action shooting, try to restore the truth, computer special effects do less, wind and sun and rain, these are commonplace, before and after from experiencing life to shooting on the island, a total of more than a year. Now it takes more than a year to make a movie, which is actually quite rare.
Reporter: What is the biggest difference between "The Island Keeper" and the role you have played before?
Liu Ye: The biggest difference is that the character archetype this time is actually very close to us, I have also played some historical figures before, many things are far away from us, we can only find through some video materials and pictures, the biggest difference this time is that Wang Jicai died in 2018. For his memories, including many documentaries, are particularly clear, so how do I restore, this is the biggest problem, including his spiritual traits, that is, to a thing, a commitment, to a thing for decades, his inner sense of power, I think at least I do not have, this is a big challenge for me.
Reporter: I also mentioned that the time span in this film spans several decades, in addition to the harsh conditions and physical torture, what is the biggest difficulty or challenge in terms of performance?
Liu Ye: The difficulty of acting was when I made the first one, the director just let me act 27, and I was a little confused at the time, because I had been acting for many years, and more than a dozen were very few. The director pursues a way to perform like a documentary, so how to restore it is the most natural performance, which is quite difficult. Because Gong Zhe is a non-professional actor, many of the things she comes out are the most real and instinctive. At that time, when playing with Gong Zhe, Hou Yong and I both said that the pressure was quite high, because Gong Zhe showed that kind of thing, and sometimes sold our professional actors.
Reporter: Most of the scenes in "The Island Keeper" were filmed in Pingtan, Fujian Province, what is your impression of Pingtan Island?
Liu Ye: I hope that everyone will have the opportunity to go to Pingtan, Fujian Province, it is really very beautiful, the natural environment is very good, there is a magical phenomenon is that you put your hand in the water, immediately become blue, where the seafood is also delicious, there is nothing to run on the beach is my favorite thing to do after finishing work.
Reporter: Since "That Mountain Man And That Dog", this time "Island Keeper" is with dogs, is it difficult to shoot a rival scene with dogs, what is your experience?
Liu Ye: Shooting with dogs is a big part of this movie, unlike "That Mountain Man That Dog", that dog is a police dog. This time these dogs are actually ordinary puppies, when shooting is more of a capture moment, such as the scene of poker in the play, we did not shoot in a day, probably before and after a month and a half. Every day when there is time to shoot a little, when there is time to shoot a little, can shoot to shoot, can not shoot feel almost not to shoot, because the dog is not obedient for a long time. We spent more than eight months before and after Pingtan Island, and many of the scenes were really slowly polished.
Reporter: Do you think that Wang Jicai insisted on keeping the island for 32 years, what is the biggest motivation, love or promise?
Liu Ye: I think at the beginning it was probably a promise to Wang Changjie, that is, to keep the promise, even with life, this is the spirit that I think is particularly beautiful. Of course, there is also love, and love is also another spiritual pillar of his. This year coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the party, and Wang Jicai is a party member, which is also the demand of party members themselves, and the persistence of party members in party spirit is a driving force for Wang Jicai. There is also what I just said about raising and lowering the national flag every day, insisting on this ceremony, insisting on more than 30 years, this sense of mission is inspiring him.
Reporter: You haven't had any new works in the past nearly a year and a half, what are you busy with during this time? Not afraid to lose heat? At present, many people are considering the box office and ratings, why would they take this work?
Liu Ye: "Island Keeper" will experience life from the second half of 2019 to the beginning of 2021. Of course, actors need exposure, need heat, and they may be more comfortable now, because there are some works before the age of 40, which is not too worrying. In the past two years, I also wanted to say that making one is a film, and at that time I wanted to say that a movie like "Shoushima Man" that really talks about characters is a very rare thing for an actor, and I did not consider whether it would be prominent in the market. There may not be a good market for commercial films or films with more intense plots, but I think such a film is a willing to say for actors, like what kind of work I have acted in, which is more important to me. Now I have also been filming, just finished filming "Wangdao", this scene is also a story about characters.
Reporter: You have been shooting the role of Wang Jicai for so long, will this role have any impact on you personally in your later life? Or some change in mindset?
Liu Ye: Actor, I think it is more fortunate to be able to experience different lives in a short period of time, sometimes relatively short, one and a half months to two months, and some times are longer. Like "Shou Island Keeper" before and after more than a year, will see a lot of different lives, but also experience a different life, and then encounter some things may not be so entangled, is to believe that many people have different goals, life attitude is not the same, in the subtle will also affect themselves, I think this is actually very good, let yourself not be so entangled. Sometimes when compared with Wang Jicai's life, I feel very lucky. In fact, my wife has a great influence on my life, and she often says that Liu Ye wants to make a good movie, that is, to shoot what can stay. "The Island Keeper" is for me personally to stay.
Reporter: Do you just want to do the work that you are really interested in?
Liu Ye: Let nature take its course now, Teacher Liu Ye can work hard, has been working hard to shoot some things, and has been working hard to make everyone recognize it. (Source: Southeast Network)